The Issue

Leaders in the federal government have promoted community and faith-based organizations as critical partners in any effort to provide integrated support to people who are incarcerated or have been recently released from prisons and jails. Administrators and staff of community and faith-based organizations, as well as the volunteers they marshal, have a long history of outreach and service to people who are incarcerated or who have returned to the community after leaving prisons or jails. Leveraging and complementing the resources they offer can have a significant impact on public safety, public spending, and the health of communities.

State government officials seeking to establish and support partnerships between their department of correction and myriad community and faith-based organizations, however, continue to encounter numerous challenges. For their part, leaders of community and faith-based organizations often feel that the potential value they offer goes unrealized.

The Response

The Council of State Governments Justice Center is developing several products to help state government officials and community and faith-based organization leaders improve collaboration.

• Policy guide: In December 2008, the Council of State Governments Justice Center released Reentry Partnerships: A Guide for States & Faith-Based and Community Organizations, which was supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, and the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, U.S. Department of Labor. This first-of-its-kind guide helps facilitate state–local connections by breaking down barriers that have impeded collaboration. The guide provides recommendations for how state governments and faith-based and community organizations can construct and sustain networks, improve state reentry grant programs, reconcile divergent priorities among state agencies and service organizations, tailor responses to local conditions, and ensure accountability for use of state funds. Also included are examples of implementation strategies from across the country.

  Click here to download Reentry Partnerships: A Guide for States & Faith-Based and Community Organizations

• Interactive Website: The website will enable users to assess whether their state provides an environment conducive to partnerships between state government and community and faith-based organizations
• Targeted Technical Assistance: Assistance will be provided to particular states where policymakers are interested in working with community and faith-based organizations to tailor the policy guide to their state